READING 9 Latin American Ingenuity - Learnig Activity 3

Reading Activity
Do you know what entrepreneurship is? Do you have any innovative business idea? Have you identified a need in your community? Have you ever thought in self-employment? Do you have any idea for improving your communitys quality of life? Read the following text by Humberto Mrquez for Tierramrica and prepare yourself for presenting the QUIZ 9 Latin American Ingenuity Learning Activity 3 that appears in QUIZES Y EXMENES.

Latin America Ingenuity: Intelligence At The Service Of Sustainable Business

Here there are two creative sustainable development projects that have enjoyed success in Latin America and that share a common denominator: the possibility of replication elsewhere in the region.

_________ Recovering Potoss Silver - San Bartoloms Project in Boliva - With mining waste accumulated over centuries on the slopes of Cerro Rico in Potos, Bolivia is the target of an environmental remediation project taken on by the company Empresa Minera Manquiri SA. The goal is to remove and to clean up silver mines by extracting silver in a closed circuit that does not create any further environmental damage. In Cerro Rico, silver was extracted by leaching, mixing the rock in a giant outdoor pool with toxic sodium cyanide, which then filtered into the soil. During the rainy season, it creates acidic runoff, which flows to the basin of the Pilcomayo River, a tributary of the Paraguay River, contaminating crops and pastureland along the way. Those materials will be removed, processed to recover the silver content, and finally deposited in dammed storage sites, built in accordance with environmental regulations, explained Edmundo Zogbi, Manquiri communications manager. Former Unemployed Produce Designer Clothing - La Juanita in Argentina- In the 1990s, the Argentine Movement of Unemployed Workers (MTD) of La Matanza, Buenos Aires, rejected government assistance and created La Juanita Cooperative, which today has 42 direct and 600 indirect employees. We are producing 2,000 cloth bags that an organic restaurant in Buenos Aires ordered to replace its plastic bags, but our dream is to produce 50.000, says cooperative member Silvia Flores. The cooperative also holds a bakery, a childcare center and a computer workshop. Many of its members have obtained microcredits which have allowed them to produce on their own and sell their wares at community fairs. This 16 sewing machines factory has allied with innovative fashion designer Martn Churba, who asked them to sew his clothing designs. La Juanita produced original dust coats that were sold not only at Churbas upscale shop in the Recoleta neighborhood, but also in the United States and Japan.

Adapted for academic purposes from a full article on: http://www.ipsnews.net/2008/07/latin-america-ingenuity-at-the-service-of-sustainable-business/

Latinoamrica Ingenio : La inteligencia al servicio de la Empresa Sostenible Aqu hay dos proyectos de desarrollo sostenible creativas que han gozado de xito en Amrica Latina y que comparten un denominador comn : la posibilidad de replicarse en el resto de la regin . _________ Recuperacin de plata de Potos - Proyecto de San Bartolom en Boliva - Con residuos mineros acumulados durante siglos en las faldas del Cerro Rico en Potos, Bolivia es el objetivo de un proyecto de remediacin ambiental asumido por la empresa Empresa Minera Manquiri SA . El objetivo es quitar y limpiar minas de plata mediante la extraccin de la plata en un circuito cerrado que no crea ningn dao al medio ambiente ms all. En Cerro Rico , la plata se extrae por lixiviacin , mezclando la roca en una piscina gigante al aire libre con cianuro de sodio txico , que despus se filtr en el suelo . Durante la temporada de lluvias , se crea la escorrenta cida , que fluye a la cuenca del ro Pilcomayo , afluente del ro Paraguay , contaminando cultivos y pastizales en el camino. " Sern removidos Esos materiales , procesados para recuperar el contenido de plata , y finalmente depositados en los sitios de almacenamiento embalsado , construidos de acuerdo con las normas ambientales ", explic Edmundo Zogbi , Manquiri gerente de comunicaciones . El ex Desempleado Produce Ropa de diseo - La Juanita en Argentina - En la dcada de 1990 , el Movimiento Argentino de Trabajadores Desocupados ( MTD ) de La Matanza, Buenos Aires, rechaz la ayuda del gobierno y cre la Cooperativa La Juanita , que hoy cuenta con 42 empleados directos y 600 indirectos. "Estamos produciendo 2.000 bolsas de tela que un restaurante orgnico de Buenos Aires orden sustituir sus bolsas de plstico , pero nuestro sueo es producir 50.000 ", dice el miembro de la cooperativa Silvia Flores. La cooperativa tambin tiene una panadera , un centro de cuidado de nios y un taller de informtica . Muchos de sus miembros han obtenido microcrditos que les han permitido producir por su cuenta y venden sus productos en las ferias de la comunidad. Esta fbrica de 16 mquinas de coser se ha aliado con el innovador diseador de moda Martn Churba , que les pidi a coser sus diseos de ropa . La Juanita produce capas de polvo originales que se vendieron no slo en la tienda de lujo de Churba en el barrio de Recoleta, sino tambin en los Estados Unidos y Japn.